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InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe, has committed a €2 million investment in NexWafe, a developer of highly efficient solar wafer production technology called EpiWafer. The companies have also joined forces to commercialise NexWafe’s breakthrough technology.

EpiWafers can save up to 50 per cent in the costs of manufacturing PV wafers. By cutting out several energy intensive and costly development stages as well as saving on material, the technology enables NexWafe to go straight from raw material to wafer form.

The project – Epicomm – will support NexWafe in developing its German-based pilot line of solar wafers, characterising cells and modules built out of those wafers, and planning for mass-scale production.

“NexWafe’s disruptive solution has huge potential to impact the cost reduction of energy from solar power. It’s an extremely promising investment.“, says Mikel Lasa, InnoEnergy Iberia CEO. “Besides the strong business case, this project is also key to strengthen the EU renewable energy leadership, one of the pillars of the Energy Union. This is also an excellent example of how R&D moves towards the market. We definitely want to see more of these in our coming investment rounds.”

Stefan Reber, NexWafe CEO, says: “InnoEnergy is a well-respected force in sustainable energy and this recognition will springboard our future growth. By joining forces we accelerate the commercialisation of our disruptive EpiWafer technology.”

Epicomm is being delivered in partnership with the renowned research organisations Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, ISC Konstanz, and industry partners Ecosolifer and Fill Factory.

Lasa adds: “The calibre of the Epicomm project partners shows the huge potential of this start-up. InnoEnergy is absolutely thrilled to be a part of this team, as we support this unique company on its way to commercialisation.”